Children and Mental Health
Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 7:29PM Squamish – Mental health is one of those topics that seems to be left out of many conversations. Maybe it’s because there is a stigma to it, or it makes us uncomfortable. If we don’t talk about it for adults, we ignore it even more for our children. Whatever the reason, mental health is an important part of being human.
Mental health, according to the World Health Organization, is not just the absence of disorder. Rather, it is “a state of social and emotional wellbeing.” As such, it is a resource for living and functioning during our whole lives. Nevertheless, most disorders originate in childhood, making this the best time to intervene; early prevention to avoid needing treatment later.
At any given time, some 14 per cent of our children, or about 800,000 in Canada, experience mental disorders causing symptoms and impairment. These figures come from a study of children aged four to 17 in Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain. To be included in the count, children had to meet a high threshold, displaying significant symptoms and impairment. MORE HERE
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